Those four years of loneliness
by Nekomimi-warrior
Summary: For four years he'd been gone, leaving her in the dark. When he gets back, what'll happen? Graylu Week/day four/separation and reconnect


Hi! Yay, day four! This story isn't the best one I've made, but then again, it isn't the worst... (-_-' ) So yeah, here you go!

* * *

Separation and Reconnect

Four years.

Four years he'd been missing.

I remember every single day of it.

From the day he left, to now.

When I'd finally been able to see him again.

But let's start at the beginning, so it makes sense, shall we?

* * *

"I'm going on a job."

I turned around to look at the owner of the deep voice. His expression was blank, like always. I blinked.

"Do you want me to come?" I asked, unsure of why he was telling me. Why would he tell me? It's not like we were the closest of friends. Not that I didn't _want _to be close. His poker face cracked after a momentand he blushed. He scratched the back of his neck.

"W-well, no, that's not it... it's a solo job, but I'll be gone for a few months at most..." He stuttered. I was still confused.

"Sooo... why are you telling me this?" He looked away, down at his feet, then back up at me. He averted his eyes. My eyebrow traveled up my forehead. This was different. What in the world did this amusing display of embarrassment mean? Gray _never _acted like this! His words jolted me out of my thoughts, which were running wild with a writers creativity.

"Um... well, I just was letting everyone know and you were just on the way to the door... no..." He sighed and tried again. "Who am I kidding. That was a lie." He cleared his throat and looked me straight in the eye. He seemed to be gathering his wits about him. I waited.

"When I get back, Lucy, I have something to ask of you." Without warning, he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I was still. He'd never hugged me before in the entire time I knew him! Why now? Why right before he left?

Not that I was complaining.

I barely had time to embrace him in return before he took off like a bullet. The guild doors closed behind him with a slam and I sat there on my seat at the bar, book in front of me forgotten, lost for words, and most certainly lost for thoughts! I looked around to see if anyone had seen that... only to see everyone-_ev-er-y-one-_ staring at me, either with badly suppressed laughter or smug, knowing smirks. At long last, I felt my face heat up and I pulled at my hair and leapt off my chair, muttering something about boys and being vague. Then something about going home.

But that last part was a lie.

Obviously.

I stomped out of the guild as normally as I could, (if you could call stomping, 'normal') and closed the doors behind me.

As soon as I was out of sight from the prying eyes of my teasing friends, I ran down the road, looking around wildly for my black haired teammate.

But he was gone.

I went to the train station as fast as I could, desperate to get an answer out of him, but it seemed like he had taken some other kind of transportation.

I huffed, exasperated, curious, and overwhelmed. I trudged home, in a daze, and locked the door behind me. It was 6:30 anyways, no one would think it suspicious if I didn't come back to the guild tonight. I set my purse down, slipped my shoes off, and made my way to the bathroom. Because in all of the jumbled things that had just happened, one thing was for certain.

I really needed a bath.

* * *

Six months. He'd now been gone six months, half a year without any word from him what-so-ever. The guild was cheerful, saying that it had happened many times before in the past, not just with Gray, but with many people. 'Sometimes, jobs take an unexpected turn! You of all people would know that.' They said.

But none of them could deny that it was strange that he hadn't sent a message. Gray was usually careful about that.

But I was scared. I'd always had this sense of when things had gone wrong. And something had gone wrong. But I would sound silly, saying it to the other members of the guild. Even the Master was lighthearted about it. So what could I do?

I could wait.

So that's what I did.

For another three months I waited.

.

.

.

And at the end of the third month is when we got the call.

Sadly, no, it wasn't from Gray. It was from the man who had hired Gray. We heard what the job was for, and what the problem was.

The job was to rid a town of low class demons that had taken over. It shouldn't have taken more than a few months, as Gray had said.

The thing was, the job was never completed.

Because Gray had never shown up.

After that, we sent out search party after search party, for three years. I insisted in being in almost every single one of them. They eventually banned me from volunteering, because the last one I'd been on, I'd been exhausted, (from working so much,) and I was sleep deprived, and when we were jumped, I was nearly killed.

And after three years of searching with no leads, we were forced to give up. There were only two options left to chose from:

Gray had left Fairy Tail on his own accord, or:

He was dead.

I didn't know what to think. I didn't want him to be dead. That was impossible! But, then again, he'd said he'd be back to ask me something, and Gray kept his promises. Besides, he wasn't one to up and leave! He loved Fairy Tail, he loved his friends! We all knew that!

So we were forced to accept it.

Gray was dead.

But then came the letter, one year later.

"_Fairy Tail,_

_I'm coming home._

_I'll explain when I get back._

_G-"_

* * *

So there I was, ashen from lack of a weeks worth of almost sleepless nights, tapping the counter repeatedly in anticipation. It had been a month after the letter came. We had no absolute proof it was Gray, as the name wasn't stated, but really, who else could it freakin' be? Gildarts? No, obviously not, he never, ever sent letters, he'd show up when he damn well pleased. It had to be Gray. It had to be. I needed something to cling onto, even if that something was a half an inch long thread of hope.

I heard the doors open and I didn't even bother to look up. Max had gone out a few minutes ago to fully close down the gift shop.

But why the hell did the guild go silent as the doors closed?

And why the hell were Max's footsteps coming towards me?

AND WHY THE HELL DID MAX JUST FUCKING HUG ME FROM BEHIND!?

.

.

.

And _when _the hell did Max get so goddamn muscular in the short time that he'd been outside?

I tried to squirm out of the grip when a familiar voice crooned in my ear.

"I thought I'd get more of a reaction, Lucy. You disappointed me." The man joked. I froze and pulled out of his arms gently. I was afraid to turn around. I finally found my vocal chords, as they had run away from me in a nasty game of hide and seek, and whispered,

"I'm hallucinating, aren't I? I don't wanna turn around." The man chuckled and flicked the back of my head.

"Are you drunk? You sound drunk."

"I'm extremely tired you fuckin' son of a bitch!" I whipped around and threw my arms out, pulling him into a tight hug. Sobs were ripped from my mouth and tears streamed from my eyes, falling down onto his black tee-shirt.

"Oh god, Gray..." He stroked my hair, and sent shivers down my spine.

And I was enjoying every single moment of it.

"What's up, Lucy?" He muttered, another weak attempt at a joke. My face hardened and anger flared inside of me. I drew back, raised my hand, and went to slap him. He closed his eyes and prepared for the impact, but I froze.

The whole side of his face was bruised, and a fading scar stretched from his forehead and down his cheek, tracing his jawline. It looked deliberate and painful. My hand dropped, and I lowered my attack to verbal lashes.

"Where the FUCK did you go!?"

He flinched.

"Lucy-"

"Four _YEARS_, GRAY! Four fucking years you were gone, without a letter, or a message or-"

"I'd been kidnapped, alright!? Stop yelling at me, I just got back!"

.

.

.

"EHHHHHHHHH!?"

Gray looked down and to the side and grumbled,

"Let the knives of curiosity fly."

The guild crowded around him, pelting him with questions from left and right. With the speed at they were coming, he wasn't able to answer any of them. After a moment of this, I saw Gray start to fidget and shuffle his feet. I filled my lungs with air and screamed,

"QUIET!"

The guild shut up immediately, cringing in shock as if I were Erza, who was currently on a mission out of town, thankfully. Gray looked like he was about to faint. I glared at the others and they backed off a bit. I took a deep breath and calmed myself. After all, this was WAY too much to take in!

"Be quiet guys, please. You guys can talk to him tomorrow, I'm going to take him back to his house." A chorus of protests rose up, and I mustered my Erza-glare again. I took Gray's wrist and pulled him, stuttering, out of the mass of shocked and silent people and out into the night air.

When we were out on the street, Gray stopped me.

"Wait, Lucy, do you..." He trailed off, flushing red. "Do you... think that I could stay at your house for a few days? It's... it's got something to do with... y'know..." I touched his shoulder and smiled.

"Sure. And Gray? What did happen? Oh," I added, seeing a small flicker of fear in his eyes. "You don't have to tell me now, you can tell me whenever. Ah... c'mon, it's late, and there's still blood on your face. Honestly, did you clean up even a little bit?"

I continued to quietly mumble to myself about needing to get more medical supplies all the way back to my house, where I turned on the lights, directed Gray to sit on the couch, and I closed the door behind me, locking it. I went about drawing the shades, so Natsu would get the notion that at the moment, his presence was certainly not welcome. My guess was that as soon as he'd gotten over his initiate shock, he'd punch Gray out the first chance he'd get. And that was not going to happen in my house, unless, of course, that was the final action Natsu wanted to take in his life.

I gathered up my bandages and a damp washcloth from my store closet and made my way back to Gray, who seemed to be falling asleep where he sat. I tapped him lightly and he winced. I didn't ask, but it made me wonder what happened throughout all those years. He recognized me and offered a sheepish grin, and I waved off my own musings for now. I went about cleaning up his face and neck, which was smeared with dried blood, like he hadn't gotten the chance to clean himself up. I patted dry his skin and applied the bandages. My fingers brushed against his cheekbone and electricity shot through my veins. I blushed lightly and kept working until his face had been taken care of. I finished his arms, but I'd let him take care of the rest of his body... I couldn't trust myself not to pounce on him and kiss him and do... other things...

But now _definitely _wasn't the time! Besides, we hadn't _ever _kissed, we hadn't _ever _shown any romantic feelings towards each other, and he didn't like me. I knew that. But... I liked him. I liked him a _lot._

"Hey, Lucy? Remember what I told you before I left?" I looked up at him in confusion. I put the medical supplies down and sat next to him on my couch.

"Huh? What... Oh, that. Yeah, I remember." I stared at him. He was blushing heavily, and averting his eyes.

"You don't have to ask what you wanted to ask right now. I waited four years, I can wait a little longer." No, I really couldn't, but with what had happened... Well, I didn't KNOW what happened, but from the looks of it...

He shook his head and looked at me.

"No, this... This c-can't wait any longer..." He took a deep breath, faced me, and said clearly,

"Lucy, will you be my girlfriend?"

.

I blinked. I went red. I turned away, holding my face.

He didn't-he didn't just ask me that, did he? Oh my... Fuck... He must think I don't want to! But what if it's a joke to embarrass me? No, Gray wouldn't be that cruel, right? I made up my mind and turned back around.

"Yes! Yes, I will! God I'm glad you didn't make me wait any longer!"

He grinned and caressed my cheek.

"Sorry for the delay, Luce." I leaned forward and pressed my lips briefly against his bruised nose. He 'tch'ed and hugged me to his chest.

"C'mere, I think we've waited too long."

We kissed, mouths moving together in sync. A bit awkward, seeing as it was our first kiss, and he'd only JUST asked me out, but you know, he was right.

We HAD waited too long.


End file.
